Mayor Rightly Relents On Pink T-Shirts

Bristol Mayor Art Ward has finally come to his senses and put aside — at least temporarily — the long-standing enmity between him and the town's fire union that had broken out in a surprisingly childish, offensive and hurtful way.

Firefighters proposed selling pink T-shirts to raise money for breast cancer research. They sold 500 to ESPN, and the some 90 union members bought T-shirts for themselves. They planned to wear the shirts to work on Thursdays during October to raise awareness of the disease.

But Mr. Ward initially forbade the firefighters from wearing the pink T-shirts to work. By Thursday, after a firestorm of public criticism, the mayor reversed the ban.

He even upped the ante by opening all five Bristol firehouses from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28, so the public can buy pink T-shirts.

It obviously crossed the mayor's mind that the only people who could possibly be hurt by his small-minded original order are those who might benefit from cancer research.

"I believe this is less about breast cancer and more about my relationship with the fire union," Mr. Ward said in an e-mailed statement to the news media last week. It's hard to see how raising money for research has anything to do with that strained relationship. But if the mayor failed to gain much sympathy in the T-shirt fight, he has only himself to blame.

For the city's good, the mayor and the fire union need to improve their relationship on a permanent basis. Blame for the rupture must be shared. But Mr. Ward should have remembered he's the leader of the city, not a high school sophomore.